Puzzle game apparatus



Jan. 22, 1957 c. 0. BROWN PUZZLE GAME APPARATUS Filed Jan. 29, 1955 PUZZLE GAME APPARATUS Calvin 0. Brown, Cary, 11]., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Set Screw & Mfg. Company, Bartlett, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application January 29, 1953, Serial No. 334,007

6 Claims. (Cl. 273-133) The invention pertains to games and game boards of puzzle type useful for amusement and as tests of skill as well as for educational and psychological purposes. Games of such character tend to develop powers of reasoning and logic and require the exercise of skill and patience, all traits of value.

The principal objects of the invention include the provision of simple and economically manufactured game boards and equally simple and inexpensive playing or game pieces, the provision of games or game arrangements readily adaptable to many embodiments, variations and combinations, and the provision of games of unique and interesting character suitable for children and adults.

The essential elements of the games or puzzles of the invention are a playing board provided with a prescribed number and arrangement or pattern of playing stations or positions and a set or predetermined number of playing pieces. Of course, there will be a set of rules governing the playing of the game pieces and designating the objective. While a game board may be provided with several patterns of stations for different games and While there may be varying numbers of playing stations within a game pattern for use with different numbers or sets of, playing pieces, two relatively simple games are illustrated in the drawings in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 are similar isometric views of a game board with playing stations of a preferred form, arrangement or pattern and number, the two views showing a set of seven playing pieces in initial or starting positions (Fig. 2) ready for play and as those pieces may be disposed in final positions (Fig. 1) after following certain routines of play.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a fragment of the board of Figs. 1 and 2 through a playing station with a playing piece in position, the section being taken as indicated by section line 3-3 in Fig. 1 and being on a larger scale; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are similar top plan views of another game board of a preferred type illustrating a difierent ar rangement or pattern and number of playing stations and five playing pieces, Fig. 4 showing the playing pieces in a starting arrangement and Fig. 5 showing the same pieces in a position to be attained through a predetermined routine of play.

The playing board may be a mere rectangular block of wood, plastic, metal, glass or other material and, for ease of temporary fixation of the playing pieces in positions in which they may be placed that is, against ac-- cidental displacement, the board may be drilled or otherwise formed to provide a series of holes or depressions at the playing stations for reception of the playing pieces or portions thereof which are so designed as to fit such holes or depressions. In the two examples illustrated the playing boards, A and B, may be considered to be wood blocks drilled as at C and C, respectively, for the slip fit of the cylindrical shanks D of playing pieces having cylindrical heads H which may have a somewhat greater diameter than the shanks for ease of grasp by the fingers.

nited States Patent 0 As will be understood the shape and size of the playing pieces may be same for all players in either embodiment but, for the games to be described, certain of the players are to be differentiated from the others in some manner as in color, head shape or special marking. The playing pieces, like the playing boards may be made of metal, wood, plastic or other material.

In the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2 the playing stations are thirteen in number arranged in a pattern of two circles tangent to one another to form a figure eight, there being one playing station common to each circle in which, counting the common station, there are seven equally spaced playing stations for which there are seven playing pieces. This game, or games using this board, may be played with three or five playing pieces somewhat after the manner of playing with the seven playing pieces or somewhat after the manner of the game hereinafter described in connection with the board of Figs. 4 and 5.

In the following game examples the playing stations willbe referred to in the numbered (1 to 13 inclusive) arrangement designated in Figs. 1 and 2 and certain of the playing pieces likewise will be referred to by specific reference characters, in this case the letters S-ETKO, but the playing moves will be given by reference to the station numbers. Positions 3 and 13, in the illustrated arrangement, are specially designated, each having a pair of concentric marks (grooves) 14 thereabout and, similarly, positions 7 and 9 are specially marked, each with a single groove 15.

In playing each of the following game examples the plays are all effected by so moving a playing piece as to jump or pass over an adjacent playing piece to position the playing piece being moved in a vacant station. Only one playing piece may be jumped or passed over and the jump may be made only to the succeeding station which must be vacant.

Example 1.--Now, assuming that the seven playing pieces, five lettered ones and two without letter designation have been arrayed in the playing stations as pictured in Fig. 2, the playing pieces designated S, E, T, K and 0 being placed, respectively, in playing stations or positions designated 3, 4, 5, 6 and .7 with positions 1 and 2 occupied by the two unlettered playing pieces, the game may be to move the playing pieces by the least number of jumps or moves to stations 1 and 8 to 13 inclusive with the lettered playing pieces S, E, T, K and O in stations 13, 12, 11, 10 and 9, respectively and the two unlettered playing pieces in stations 8 and 1, as shown in Fig. 1. The following series of 38 moves will accomplish this objective.

Move No. Move Move N0. Move Move No. Move fromfrom from 2to13 Gto 1 91:0 1 13 to 8 7 to 8 8 to 7 1 to 9 2 to 13 7 to 2 812010 1to12 11:0 3 61:0 1 13t011 5to 7 71:0 2 31:0 5 (Ste 1 4 to 6 4 to 6 7 to 8 5 to 7 5 to 7 1 to 9 2 to 4 6 to 1 8 to 10 3 to 5 8 to 13 3 to 1 7150 2 lto 6 2'00 7 51:0 7 71:0 5 71:0 8 1 to 3 10 to 8 Example 2.By designating playing station 12 as the station to which playing piece S shall be moved from an initial or starting position at station 3, with playing pieces E, T, K and O to be disposed finally at stations 11, 10, 9 and 8, respectively, after being played from initial positions at stations 4, 5, 6 and 7, respectively, and the two unlettered playing pieces to be moved from positions any other way of elfecting orientation. In this puzzle game a purpose may be to move the playing, pieces by the jumping method above described in one direction or 65 by those skilled in the artby following the disclosure hereof without departing from the invention spirit and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 1. A puzzle game comprising a playing board having marked thereon in a circular pattern with the stations-in spaced relation to one another, the total of the playing stations. being an odd number at'least eleven, and a pluralityof playing pieces, the total of the playing pieces being an odd number at 75 least six'lessthan the number of stations, at least one of Again, the

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The embodiment ofFigs. 4 and-'5 employs eleven playing positions or stations, here numbered 1 to 11' and is illustrated as utilizing five playing pieces of which four are designated N and one is diiferentially designated M but, as will later appear, may utilize only three playing 7 a plurality of playing stations pieces two designated N and the M piece. playing stations are arrayed in a circular pattern with equalspa'ces between stations and, if desired, stations 1 and-"7 may be specially. marked by'circular grooves 14 or otherwise or the marking may be omitted if there is the playing pieces being specially distinguished from the other playing pieces.

2. A puzzle game comprising a playing board having a plurality of playing stations marked and arrayed thereon in spaced relation to one another in each of a pair of circular patterns, there being one playing station common to each of the circular patterns, and a plurality of playing pieces, the total of the playing pieces being an odd number among the numbers three, five and seven, the total number of playing stations being thirteen, at least one of said playing pieces being specially distinguished from the other playing pieces.

3. A puzzle game comprising a playing board having a plurality of playing stations marked and arrayed thereon in spaced relation to one another in each of a pair of circular patterns, there being one playing station common to each of the circular patterns, and a plurality of playing pieces, the total of the playing pieces being an odd number among the numbers three, five and seven, the total number of playing stations being thirteen, at least one of said playing pieces being specially distinguished from the other playing pieces and at least one of the playing stat-ions in each pattern being specially distinguished.

4. A puzzle game comprising a playing board having a plurality of playing stations marked and arrayed thereon in spaced relation to one another in each of a pair of circular patterns, there being one playing station common to each of the circular patterns, and a plurality of playing pieces, the total of the playing pieces being seven, the total number of playing stations being equal to an even number multiple of the number of playing pieces minus one, at least one of said playing pieces being specially distinguished from the other playing pieces.

5. A puzzle game comprising a playing board having thirteen playing stations marked and arrayed thereon in spaced relation to one another in each of a pair of circular patterns, there being six of the stations in each pattern and a seventh playing station common to each of the circular patterns, and a plurality of playing pieces, the total of the playing pieces being an odd number not less than three nor more than seven, at least one of said playing pieces being specially distinguished from the other playing pieces.

6. A puzzle game comprising a playing board having a plurality of playing stations marked thereon in a pair of circular patterns tangent to one another, the said stations being arrayed in spaced relation to one another, and a plurality of playing pieces, the total of the playing pieces being an odd number not less than three, the total number of playing stations in said patterns being thirteen, atleast one of said playing pieces being specially distinguished from the other playing pieces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 357,923 Hanson Feb. 15, 1887 463,425 Law Nov. 17, 1891 484,882 Rickert Oct. 25, 1892 563,968 Jones July 14, 1896 696,435 I-Ieimbuecher Apr. 1, 1902 1,455,193 Duquette May 15, 1923 FOREIGN PATENTS- l,199 Great Britain 1898 

